JCI Bradford has chosen this project because we believe that thousands of children in the Bradford District and surrounding areas suffer poverty and ill health and whilst many of us exchange Easter Eggs with friends and family without a second thought, we hoped that we could ask you to share just one egg with a child less fortunate.

This year we collected a fantastic 2335 eggs from 33 companies, with a target of 1100 this is a huge achievement and everyone at JCI Bradford is extremely pleased and overwhelmed with the amount of help received. Michelle Pemberton, Community Director, says “The appeal has really caught the imagination and hearts of Bradford this year to create such an amazing amount of eggs for disadvantaged children. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and hard work each and every school and company have put in to the appeal to make its second year twice as big as the pilot year. We cannot express our gratitude enough to everyone who got involved, they have all made our second year of the appeal a great success in providing 2335 children with an egg at a special time of the year. We could not do it without their support and kindness.”

A gigantic thank you to all of the companies who were involved from JCI Bradford!

We smashed it! (Again)

The JCI Bradford Easter Egg Appeal project launched in 2014 achieving phenomenal success collecting 1070 Easter eggs. The eggs are collected and then distributed to disadvantaged children across local charities.

Similar to the Secret Santa Appeal, which has just celebrated its 25th are collected from local businesses who have volunteered to help.

This year we collected a fantastic 2293 eggs from 32 companies, with a target of 1100 this is a huge achievement and everyone at JCI Bradford is extremely pleased and overwhelmed with the amount of help received. Michelle Pemberton, Community Director, says “The appeal has really caught the imagination and hearts of Bradford this year to create such an amazing amount of eggs for disadvantaged children. I am overwhelmed by the generosity and hard work each and every school and company have put in to the appeal to make its second year twice as big as the pilot year. We cannot express our gratitude enough to everyone who got involved, they have all made our second year of the appeal a great success in providing 2293 children with an egg at a special time of the year. We could not do it without their support and kindness.”

It’s really not that difficult to justify WHY (see below) and with an early bird offer of £200 for the whole weekend including accommodation then what’s stopping you signing up right now?

JCI UK’s national convention is the unique annual event in whichmembers,senatorsand some non-members (I don’t have a link for any of them) come together in one place to meet each other, share experiences, train and learn together.

Highlights of the weekend will be of course great speakers and trainers who will provide amazing insights to business, personal development and human achievement. BUT, it doesn’t just stop there the National Public Speaking, Debating and Extempore competitions will be hosted with the usual fun and laughter as members battle it out to be the UK champions. If you’re not attracted to taking part and competing they are certainly excellent events to spectate.

Like all great events having a quality social aspect to these conferences is very important and Barnsley have got a very good track record for helping people ‘out of their shell’ and partying hard.

The cornerstone event to the weekend has to be the Saturday night gala dinner which includes the national awards ceremony. The efforts of members around the UK are recognised and it gives everyone the chance to celebrate in style.

Some of the award categories will be entered into the European awards for 2016 and ultimately, if successful, can lead to the ‘world’ awards.

I’ve attended all but one National Convention over the last 5 years hosted in Reading, Sheffield and London (twice).

Last year I attend the National Convention in London and it was truly an amazing experience for JCI Bradford to be short-listed for several awards but collecting an award for the ‘Most Outstanding CSR Programme’ was just icing on the cake.

I personally was recognised for being the ‘Most Outstanding Senator’ which was a very lovely surprise but no prize money, why is that? heheheh

The conference fees and options are all online at www.jciuknc2015.co.uk and as of today there are only 8 early bird tickets left.

After an amazing pilot project last year, today marks the return of our Easter Egg Appeal and what a wonderful start we have made!

After last year’s success collecting 1070 eggs for disadvantaged families and children in Bradford, we wanted to continue the appeal on an annual basis. Last week’s planning meeting pulled together a great team of enthusiastic individuals ready to drive the appeal forward to make this year’s appeal bigger and better, providing more children in Bradford with an Easter egg this year.

Before the appeal had started, in fact before we had held our planning meeting I was overwhelmed by the amount of promises to help from our previous helpers of the appeal. Soon after we sent out more emails to existing and new companies and schools to ask for support with our appeal. The help just came flooding in. So far we have got 23 companies and schools running mini appeals in their organisations, Wow!!

Raising the Bar is not only a high-quality benchmarking tool that can be simply completed online but it can provide the link between business and the community’s needs. Joining Raising the Bar can assist businesses in managing their contributions to their communities and allows them to monitor that they have made a real and measurable impact. It enables every business to choose from and plan for the way they will contribute to the District each year and businesses can measure and report on what they have achieved and celebrate the contribution made by their staff.

Michelle Pemberton, JCI Bradford’s Community Director explained “It was very easy for JCI to list the Secret Santa Appeal project on the Raising the Bar website for the Bradford Chamber members to find out what CSR opportunities exist in their local area. We very quickly received enquiries and the rest as they say is history.”

‘It was a great pleasure for everyone at Packetts to be involved in JCI’s Secret Santa Appeal this year. The staff and management at Packetts have supported charities over many years in the local area, but Raising-the-Bar has now given an added focus to this, along with a greater opportunity for involvement in local events and causes. There is a strong desire within Packetts to continue our support for Raising-the-Bar throughout 2015 and we are all looking forward to taking part in some of the many worthwhile events scheduled for the year ahead.’Cathy Hewitt, Sydney Packetts.

Christeyns have just completed its second year of participation in the raising the bar initiative and it was exactly the framework the company needed to embark on a wide variety of CSR activities and to receive recognition for the same. In 2014 we received the RTB silver award and were the overall winners of the environmental award – which was really a fantastic achievement and has spurred us on to build on this success in 2015. Teams from Christeyns have participated in various community projects in 2014 – including renovating an overgrown allotment for community use and helping with a Xmas dinner for the homeless -these projects really gave our staff the feel good factor. The JCI Secret Santa appeal is one that is ever popular with our employees – every child should wake up to a gift on Christmas morning and our staff generously donated 40 presents – double that of last year to try and make sure this happened. We are all looking forward to taking part in the RTB activities in 2015, our staff feel like they are making a real difference to their local community whilst building a great team spirit within our business. We are looking forward to continuing our work with RTB in 2015, especially trying to improve in the “education” aspect of the RTB and also continuing our great work in the other categories.. Jill Ingham, Christeyns

“It was a real thrill to be able to contribute in a small way to making some kids Christmas a little happier. It made the joy of the season a little more special.”Steve Waud, Business Enterprise Fund

“I just want to thank Bradford Chamber for the Raising the Bar programme and the companies above who have helped us with our amazing appeal and hope that more companies will sign up to RTB programme and support our many other CSR programmes throughout the year.”added Michelle.

]]>https://www.jcibradford.org.uk/2015/01/07/bradford-chambers-raising-the-bar-programme-helps-secret-santa/feed/0New companies support our Secret Santa Appeal this yearhttps://www.jcibradford.org.uk/2015/01/07/new-companies-support-our-secret-santa-appeal-this-year/
https://www.jcibradford.org.uk/2015/01/07/new-companies-support-our-secret-santa-appeal-this-year/#respondWed, 07 Jan 2015 15:17:45 +0000http://bradford.jciuk.org.uk/2015/01/07/new-companies-support-our-secret-santa-appeal-this-year/Our 25th Anniversary Secret Santa Appeal has just launched this weekend and already we have had new companies come on board to help us.

Local firms, Covance, Bradvent, Westbourne Dental Surgery, Whiteoaks Respite Care are just some of the new businesses who have arrange to collect donations of gifts from staff and customers to ensure that needy children are not left without this Christmas.

“We are always amazed by people’s generosity and these companies have made a simple decision to buy some gifts as a team effort running mini-appeals in their businesses.” Michelle Pemberton, JCI Bradford’s Community Director.

“At Covance, we are all really looking forward to spending Christmas with our families this year, and we wanted to help make the day special for families who have been less fortunate. That’s why we’ve set up our Christmas wish tree. In December, all staff are encouraged to bring a gift for a boy or girl of a certain age and place it under the wish tree. For what we would normally spend on sending Christmas cards to all of our colleagues, we can send a gift to a child who really needs it instead! We’ve been an established business in Leeds for almost 30 years, and this is a great opportunity for us to give something back to our community.” Ruth Smethurst, Covance

“We decided to take part in the Secret Santa Scheme because we felt it was time to give back to the community and help a worthy cause. As we are a family based company this appeal seemed the perfect way to give back to people who are not as fortunate as we are. It was easy to get involved in the scheme, the staff were very supportive and we received many donations from suppliers and customers who had heard we were partaking in this cause. We aim to donate again at Christmas 2015. We received donations from: Envirovent Ltd, Vent Direct Ltd and Natwest.” Carly-Marie Hefferon, Bradvent Ltd.

JCI Bradford members have pulled it off once again keeping an annual project alive for 25 years ensuring that the community does not forget about those less fortunate.

“It’s a very emotional time because you spend several months planning and after 16 days of the appeal running, it is all over. We have outstanding support from the community and commerce and can’t thank everyone enough for their donations to another successful appeal.” Michelle Pemberton of JCI Bradford said.

The next appeal will start Saturday 28th November until Sunday 13th December 2015 inclusive. More details will be published via facebook https://www.facebook.com/secretsantaappeal and on our webpage http://www.jcibradford.org.uk/secret-santa/

]]>https://www.jcibradford.org.uk/2015/01/07/secret-santa-appeal-nets-3302-present-for-needy-children/feed/0JCI Bradford picks up National Awardhttps://www.jcibradford.org.uk/2014/11/17/jci-bradford-picks-up-national-award/
https://www.jcibradford.org.uk/2014/11/17/jci-bradford-picks-up-national-award/#respondMon, 17 Nov 2014 10:42:54 +0000http://bradford.jciuk.org.uk/2014/11/17/jci-bradford-picks-up-national-award/JCI Bradford won the award for Most Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility Programme for their amazing projects such as Secret Santa, Easter Egg Appeal, Urban Regeneration and Blood Drive.

At a prestigious gala awards dinner hosted by JCI Canary Wharf at the London Museum of Docklands on Saturday 15th November 2014 JCI UK recognised the efforts of its members around the country.

JCI Bradford’s incoming President, Phil Cockayne also picked up Best Debater Award for his efforts during the JCI UK National debating competition.

Phil Cockayne said “JCI Bradford has finally made it back to national success with new projects, new members and a renewed energy that has paid off being recognised in this way. I’m so proud of the JCI Bradford team and in particular Michelle Pemberton our Community Director who has led this development of new community projects.”

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an integral part of JCI’s core values. CSR covers any activity which companies engage in to deliver positive change in their local communities.

JCI Bradford run community projects in the Bradford area which aim to benefit the local people. We work with companies, local public sector organisations, charities, volunteers and generous donors to deliver a set of projects throughout the year. The projects of 2014 are as follows:– JCI Easter Egg Appeal (March)– JCI Blood Drive (June)– JCI Harvest Festival (September)– JCI Secret Santa Appeal (December)– JCI Community Gardens Project

Phil Cavalier-Lumley who is a JCI Senator (A Senatorship is the highest accolade in the JCI world for contribution to Junior Chamber) received a special award for being Most Outstanding Senator for his help supporting the national organisation in particularly the marketing of the organisation and their national magazine.

JCI Bradford’s award will now be automatically transferred to the European Conference Awards (set to be held in Turkey in July 2015) and then, if they win there, at the JCI World Congress in Japan (November 2015).

JCI’s Secret Santa Appeal is in its 25th year this year and the team is aiming for a big one. Any companies or organisations who wish to get involved with either collecting presents, running mini appeals or volunteering, please send your requests to michelle@jcibradford.org.uk

Philip Cockayne was elected President of JCI Bradford at our Annual General Meeting on Monday 10th November 2014. In his intention to stand document Phil explained how he discovered JCI Bradford ‘I carried out a rigorous internet search into organisations I could get involved with on a voluntary basis. My motives were pure; to find an outlet for some of my talents which aren’t utilised or developed through my current employment…’

Phil joined in September 2013 and immediately got involved by successfully standing for Deputy President 2014.

JCI Bradford is responsible for some of the most successful community projects in Yorkshire and the UK. This weekend (15th November) Phil will be representing JCI Bradford at the JCI UK national awards ceremony in Canary Wharf, London hoping to bring an award home.

Phil said of his appointment “I’m absolutely thrilled to be leading JCI Bradford in 2015. 2014 was a great year for us: 150% growth in membership, 4 more community projects, building better relationships with our partners. I hope to see 2015 take us to dizzying heights; all in celebration of what young people can do in their spare time for their communities”

As I’m one of JCI Bradford’s Past Presidents I’d like to say that “Philip has been a shot in the arm for JCI Bradford. He has not only taken responsibility for his own personal development but he has also challenged himself and won. I firmly believe that Philip will take JCI Bradford to new heights and I wish him and his team all the very best.”

Given that we always post about some of the great things we do in Bradford around helping the community, helping disadvantaged faces, putting a smile on the faces of young children etc. I thought I’d share some information about this years’ annual dinner.

Our annual dinner happened on the 5th September at the Midland Hotel. It was our 55th Annual Dinner (although Phil Cavalier-Lumley was quick to point out the fact that we hadn’t actually had 55, it was more like the 48th but hey, whose counting?

The night started off with some drinks in the bar for guests to meet some of the other attendees. The dress code was black tie (I always say; who doesn’t love a black tie event?’. The night kicked off with the entrance of the top table which consisted of the following guests:

– Sandy Needham, CEO at West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce

– Kate Senter, JCI UK National President

– Katie Ogley, Regional Group Chairman for Yorkshire

– Ben Hawley, President at JCI Barnsley

– Charlie Pearson, President at JCI Leeds

– Alex Byers, President at JCI Leeds

– Ilona Alcock, President at JCI Sheffield

– And yours truly, Deputy President at JCI Bradford

The evening kicked off with some lovely tomato soup followed by sautéed chicken and roast vegetables with profiteroles and coffee for dessert. Speeches were delivered by Phil Cavalier-Lumley – about JCI from 2009 to 2013 and his leadership, a talk from Kate Senter – talking about the Bradford team and how awesome we all are J, but also how we’re viewed nationally. Finally, a short talk from me about JCI Bradford, echoing some of the things mentioned so far and why JCI is so great. We also recognised the great achievements of some of our members (Brogan Hirst – Marketing Director, Lucy Parr – Training Director and Michelle Pemberton – Community Director). The Midland Hotel and Bradford Chamber both received recognition for their continued support for JCI Bradford.

As the guests filtered away, many stayed around (including a few of the other local presidents who may have had a few too many bottles of wine and stayed in the Midland lobby till 5am (what can I say…).

Huge thanks to everyone who came (all 40 or so of you). Hope you all had a great night. It was fantastic to see the support JCI Bradford has and bringing us all together to celebrate the amazing things we’ve achieved this year tops my annual calendar.

To those of you who missed out and what to get more of a feel for what JCI annual dinners a like, keep these dates for your diary: